


Especially for You

by UpstartCrow42



Category: What We Do in the Shadows (TV)
Genre: Caring, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Panera Bread, Ultimate Himbo Nandor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:28:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28494615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UpstartCrow42/pseuds/UpstartCrow42
Summary: Nandor cares for Guillermo after he accidentally injures the human.
Relationships: Guillermo de la Cruz/Nandor the Relentless
Comments: 13
Kudos: 49
Collections: non-denominational winter celebrational fandom gift exchangional extravaganza





	Especially for You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [weirdbitterdays](https://archiveofourown.org/users/weirdbitterdays/gifts).



> I hope you enjoy it, weirdbitterdays!
> 
> Thank you so much to sistermichael for beta reading this for me!

To say that Nandor had grown accustomed to Guillermo’s ever present heartbeat was an understatement. It soothed him to sleep every morning, which was especially comforting after the whole theater debacle, and its steady thrum greeted him every evening. It was the one thing in the constantly changing world that Nandor could rely on. Kingdoms would rise and fall and rise again, countries would change names, new political boundaries would be drawn up on maps, but Guillermo, _his_ Guillermo had promised to be there for him forever.

So rising from his sleep of the dead to a silent crypt already had the warrior on edge. Not since Guillermo had left with his solitary _Sorry_ had Nandor awoken to a room deafened by silence and stillness. There had to be a logical answer to this conundrum. Nandor wasn’t some simpleton, or simp, as the youth were saying these days. He was a willful warrior and tenacious tactician. A problem as vexing as a missing Guillermo could easily be solved with some careful thought and consideration. After all, the most logical solution to a problem was the most likely.

Nandor lay in his coffin pondering the possibilities of Guillermo’s whereabouts. Maybe Guillermo was patrolling the grounds? Maybe Guillermo was dusting the shelves? Maybe Guillermo was making Nandor a birthday present? Or maybe it wasn’t something bad? Maybe Guillermo had already grown tired of their new normal and departed for his mother’s home again?

He shook his head and tamped down that thought, even though his dead heart was torn asunder at the mere thought of Guillermo gone from his life. Again.

“Excuse me, Guillermo. Where are you?” he called out, trying to keep his fear out of his voice. “I am ready to leave my coffin now.”

Silence echoed in response. 

He tried again and again. With each unanswered call, his feelings morphed from angst to ire. Nandor ended up calling Guillermo for ten minutes straight before debarking from his coffin on his own. As he stepped out he let out an exasperated huff. “Where is Guillermo? He had better not be playing some silly game with me!” 

Nandor stormed down the hall, cape billowing behind him, straight to Guillermo’s new room upstairs, the big blue room. He took the stairs two at a time, boots pounding the wooden planks with an unrelenting force. Some nearly splintering under his footfalls while others just elicited creaks and moans from worn and tired wood. If anyone was still asleep in the household, they would certainly be awake after Nandor’s charge up the stairs, giving one final stomp as he arrived right in front of the door.

He muttered to himself, “I knew I should not have moved him so far away from me. First all the little breakies and the days off and now this!”

The warrior and master tactician grabbed the knob to turn it and was halted before it could finish its revolution around its mechanical interior. He tried turning it the other way and was foiled again. 

After his third attempt at entering the room, Nandor finally remembered he was a vampire and could not be so easily thwarted by mortal concepts such as locks as doors. With all his might, he gripped the knob and began to turn it but to no avail. Guillermo’s room seemed to be an impenetrable fortress. He furiously jiggled the handle as he yelled, “Guillermo, are you locking me out of your life again like you did when you ran away to be with that Celeste vampire lady or when you went back to your mother’s house? I don’t appreciate this at all, Guillermo!”

He waited, tapping his foot.

Nothing.

He put his ear to the door and frowned.

No heartbeat detected.

Nandor could feel the ire at Guillermo’s silence morphing to fear. The corners of his mouth began to wobble and tears pricked his eyes.

“No, this can’t be. My Guillermo! My sweet, powerful Guillermo is dead and I cannot even retrieve his body to give him a proper burial.”

He slid down the door, sobbing into his hands. He didn’t even sense that Guillermo was sick. Nandor could usually smell that on a human. And Guillermo didn’t smell old either. No mashed potato and mothball odor surrounding his beloved familiar, his friend, in a miasma of age. Sure, Guillermo’s fashion choices made him seem like an old man, but he was pretty sure Guillermo was a young stud in his prime. No more than 50 years old at the most.

Nandor continued to think of all the moments they would never get to experience together when he felt a tap, tap, tapping on his shoulder. The rich scent of blood and cinnamon and soapy pens flooded his nose and filled his heart with renewed hope.

A gentle “Master, are you okay?” flooded his ears.

The warrior’s face shot up. He blinked his tears away and smiled, “My Guillermo, you’re alive.”

Nandor the Relentless was not a careful individual by mortal or immortal means. He was always diving headfirst into danger and trouble. He was always leaping before he looked. He was always regretting not being more careful.

But Nandor wasn’t thinking clearly, which was, well, pretty normal for him. And with zero thoughts in his head, Nandor leapt from his sitting position in front of Guillermo’s door and tackled the human into a big bear hug, toppling him to the ground. On their way from a vertical position to a horizontal one, Guillermo’s precious, vulnerable, mortal head hit the edge of a side table.

The pain seized Guillermo’s entire body. It radiated from the back of his skull, shooting white hot daggers from his brain, to his eyes, to the rest of his nerves.

Time seemed to cease as they continued their descent. Nandor did his best to cradle Guillermo’s head to lessen the impact as they made their way to the floor, banging his own hand pretty hard. He tried to shake the pain out while still assessing Guillermo’s needs.

“Shit! Guillermo, I’m so sorry, are you okay. I hurt your soft little head.” He forced Guillermo’s eyes open to look into them and then began to inspect his head more carefully.

Guillermo winced and blinked several times, trying to pull away from Nandor’s invasive touch. “It’s fine. I’m fine. It just hurts a little.” He sat there for a moment and then looked at Nandor’s crestfallen face. “Wait, you thought I was dead?”

“You weren’t in my crypt when I awoke from my slumber and I couldn’t hear your heart beating in your room.”

“Well, I was outside the house running an errand. It took a bit longer than I thought. We needed more Tide Pens. Sorry I wasn’t there and gave you much of a scare. I need to get started on the chores you asked me to help with.”

Nandor shook his head in dissent. “Nonsense, Guillermo. You will do no such thing. I will be taking you to your room and then taking care of you.”

The centuries-old vampire scooped the human up into his arms as if he were as light as paper, cradling Guillermo to his chest so that he could feel the ever present beating of his heart. Nandor walked back to the door, and freed one of his hands from Guillermo to open it. He was met with resistance.

Right. It was still locked.

“Um, Guillermo, why is your room locked?”

“To keep Colin Robinson out. Also, to keep out Laszlo and Nadja. Apparently, they like to use this room for role-playing.”

“Eeeuch,” Nandor shuddered at the thought of what those two would consider role-playing. “Do you really need to use such magical forces to keep them out? I nearly broke my arm trying to go and see you.”

Guillermo’s eye twitched. “Yeah, mortal locks are pointless in a vampire’s den. I got this one from Lilith.”

“Well, next time tell me when you are not in your room or going to be out. Otherwise I will think you have expired, and it will make me really hurt,” Nandor whined.

Guillermo let out a little laugh and then dug out his key for Nandor. Once pressed into the lock, it let out an audible click and opened easily. 

Nandor insisted on carrying the man over the threshold, still cradling Guillermo in his arms. He gently sat Guillermo on his bed with a loud, “There you go, almost all comfy cozy,” before sitting next to him.

“No shoes on the bed, Guillermo. It’s not hygienic.”

Before the man could protest, Nandor had Guillermo’s legs propped up and was taking off his shoes. “So much easier to slip off than my big boots, huh.” Guillermo wiggled his toes in response.

Nandor pulled back the covers “Now you need to get under them so I can be tucking you in nice and tight. I know how you humans like to be all wrapped in soft blankets. Not like the rocks we had as blankets and pillows back in my human days training with the Al Quolanudarian forces. Those were some rough times for a young man.” 

Guillermo obeyed without protest or comment as Nandor waxed poetic about his human years. It wasn’t too rare for the former warlord to go on these nostalgia trips, but the stories were starting to get a bit repetitive. Guillermo could feel himself zoning out, in danger of drifting off to dreamland as Nandor left no detail missing from his tale.

After Nandor finished another rousing story about how he excelled at his military training and leadership, the vampire asked, “Now, what can I be doing to make you feel better for you hitting your head, Guillermo?”

Before Guillermo could answer, his stomach growled like a ferocious beast. “Um, well, I haven’t had dinner yet.”

Nandor looked up to the ceiling, his chin resting on his hand as he pondered. It had been a long time since he was in such a human condition where sustenance could only be acquired by consuming the flesh of various animals and vegetables. “I assume that you don’t want any ice chips.”

Guillermo frowned at the mention of ice as acceptable human sustenance. They had talked about this. In one ear and out the other, as usual. 

“That’s more of a snacky type food anyway.” Nandor added as the silence between them filled the room, tension on the horizon. A light went on in Nandor’s mind. “Oh, Guillermo, I know the perfect thing to get for you. Wait right here.” He jumped off the bed and raised his arm in triumph. “You’re going to love this so much. I promise.”

Nandor spun on his booted heels and raced down to his room, this time taking the stairs three at a time. Once he retrieved his money-dish money he dashed out of the house and into the cool night. He was on a mission and nothing was going to stop him from achieving his goal. In the blink of an eye, Nandor turned into a bat and flew to his destination.

The warm gold and green glow of the sandwich and soup shop sign greeted the Ottoman warrior like an old friend. This was the place. The place where he met his Guillermo over a decade ago. Back then he was a sweet little marshmallow of a man, a fresh baby, an over eager and enthusiastic goth boy. Now he was a powerful warrior in his own right.

He waited by the entrance and knocked and waved at the counter person to welcome him in.

Nothing.

He tapped his foot.

Nothing.

He knocked on the glass and called out a muffled, “Excuse me. May I come into your shop of breads and soups?”

The bored shopkeeper looked at him and motioned him in.

“Good enough.” He said to himself as the barrier blocking him from his bounty evaporated.

He made his way up the counter and looked up at the menu. What did Guillermo like to eat again?

The words swirled around on the board and flooded his brain all at once. He had no context for most of these food items. Everything in his human years had been much more simple. They didn’t slap the roasted flesh of animals between slices of bread in his day. You ate them separately. 

It seemed like humans were constantly inventing newer and even more confusing food items. It made him a little sad sometimes that he couldn’t partake of them without risk of violent illness. He knew younger vampires had more trouble with this aspect of their turning than ones in his generation. They wanted to eat their ribbon candy with impunity. 

Nandor wasn’t totally innocent from curiosity when it came to human food consumption. As recently as last year he consumed a Tiger’s Blood snowy cone due to an unfortunate misunderstanding regarding the nature of the blood. It had been a huge mistake.

Maybe Guillermo would like a snowy cone as a treat later? Wait, no, he wouldn't. Ice chips aren’t a snack. He made note to remember that this time.

He could feel a human woman grumble behind him as he came out of his thoughts. The vampire looked up at the menu board again and for the second time that week, a light bulb brightened in his mind.

That was it. His Guillermo loved soup. He remembered seeing the man eat one when they first met.

Nandor looked at the man behind the counter and asked, “May I have a bowl of your red soup.”

The man looked at Nandor, no thoughts in his head. “Um, do you mean the chili or the tomato soup?”

Nandor laughed. Chili? Why would anyone want a cold soup to eat? “The tomatoey one.” He said. “And which one of these human sandwiches go well with a bowl of red soup?”

The man’s face scrunched. “Well, people usually get the grilled cheese with it.”

“I will have one of those too then.

“Do you want that as a You Pick Two or just the bowl and the full sandwich?”

“What kind of question is this? I already picked two items. Just go and make them, counter man.”

Nandor was asked if he wanted to add a human beverage and a treat for an up-charge. He thought about it for a moment. He knew that Guillermo liked to refresh himself with various liquids, so that was a resounding yes. And maybe a small treat would make him feel better too.

The man rang up the order and Nandor counted out the change one coin at a time until he had the full sixty-nine cents. He giggled at the number.

He walked over the counter to pick out Guillermo’s treat. The young lady behind the counter asked him what he would like. “Oh it is not for me. It is for Guillermo. Do you know what he would want?”

The woman raised an eyebrow at him. “Um. I don’t know who you are talking about.”

Nandor’s head tilted to the side. “Um, he used to work here. You do not know my Guillermo?”

She blinked a few times before answering. “No, I just started working here last week.”

“Ah, yes, that is why you do not know my Guillermo then. What do you think a handsome young man with soft curls and softer sweaters would like from your assortment of treats?”

She smiled. “Oh, well, I guess you can’t go wrong with a raspberry almond thumbprint cookie.”

“Eeeuch, do you have any that don’t have thumbs in them?”

The eye-roll may not have read on her face, but it was evident in her voice. “It’s just a style, there are no actual thumbs in the baking process.”

“Oh, well, then I will take one of those.” Nandor grinned as he handed her the little ticket and looked at the drinking cup the counter man had given to him. This would not do, it was empty. Guillermo would not want to drink air.

The women, sensing Nandor’s disappointment, cleared her throat and pointed him to the fountain of human beverages. Oh, he would have to serve it himself. “I’ll bring you your cookie,” she called to him as he headed to the refreshment center.

The beverage choices were almost as daunting as the food ones. There were so many choices and they were all unintelligible to him. He had no frame of reference for any of the ones labeled cola. The teas were all cold which was just wrong. Who liked to drink tea that had lost its heat and became cold as ice? 

A word he recognized caught his eyes. The beverage was a lovely orange shade. Blood Orange Lemonade. He knew from the Tiger’s Blood incident that it was not actually a blood based beverage. Also because oranges did not have blood in their pulp. Oh yes, this was perfect for Guillermo. He could be pretending to be a vampire.

Nandor fiddled with the ice machine, certain not to get too much less Guillermo think this was meant as a snack. As soon as he finished filling the cup with the orange beverage, his human’s food was ready, handed to him in a bag by the little treat girl. “I put the cookie in the bag for you.

Nandor made haste to return to Guillermo while the soup and sandwich were still warm and the ice of his beverage still solid. 

Guillermo was sitting in bed where Nandor had left him, playing a little video on his talking machine.

“I have returned with your foods.” Nandor stood with his legs shoulder length apart, holding the bag aloft in one hand, his other hand holding the cup at his hip. His face was tilted skyward and the light in the center of the room hit him at such an angle that it gave off an air of majesty.

Guillermo felt his heart flutter in his chest as he took in the site of Nandor in his heroic stance. “Oh, you went to Panera Bread?” 

He sat next to Guillermo, placing the drink on the nightstand and handing the bag to the man directly. “Yes, I seem to remember you were working there when we first met.”

“Wow, that feels like ages ago.” Guillermo said, taking the bag from Nandor and opening it. He set the box aside that obviously held a baked good and dug for the meal, finding a wrapped, warm sandwich and a bowl of soup. “I see you went all out with full sizes. That was very nice of you, but they do have a combo You Pick 2 deal.”

The vampire's face fell and he let out a long whine, “I did pick the two!” 

Guillermo decided to drop it.

Nandor nonchalantly sat back to look behind the man’s head, gently running his fingers over the spot where Guillermo had hit it not one hour ago. “You have a little bump, but no bleeding.”

Guillermo absently leaned into Nandor’s touch. His eyes fluttered closed and he let out a soft sigh. “Yeah, it’s not really hurting too much anymore. I took some drugs.”

Nandor’s eyes widened to black orbs and his jaw dropped. Once he was able to compose himself again, he chided the man, “Guillermo, humans aren’t supposed to be taking drugs. That PCA you made me watch with all the animals said so. Don’t you remember what the Turtleman and the little squirrels said?”

Guillermo rolled his eyes. Nandor had been the one to insist they watch that particular cartoon based on all the animals he saw in the thumbnail. “It's PSA. And do you mean Michelangelo from the _Ninja Turtles_ and Simon from _Alvin in and the Chipmunks_?”

“That’s what I said!”

He felt a headache brewing and not from the site of his injury. “It’s not those kinds of drugs. It’s just pain medication. Perfectly legal.”

Nandor’s eyes morphed back to their usual state as if his mind had been cleared of the weight of his troubling thoughts. “Oh, pain medication. Why didn’t you say so?”

Guillermo chose to ignore that too and instead decided to eat his soup before it got cold. “Oh, tomato, you remembered my favorite,” Guillermo smiled. He unwrapped the sandwich for good measure. “And grilled cheese? Nandor, that was so sweet of you. How did you know my favorite sandwich?”

“I am good at remembering things, Guillermo.” He said, voice wavering to indicate that he in fact, did not know it was his favorite.

“And what kind of treat is this?” His fingers barely graced the box before his hand was halted by Nandor’s larger one.

“You must finish your dinner first before you get your treat.” Nandor scolded as he snatched the box from his hand.

“You sound like you’re in total dad mode right now,” Guillermo chuckled.

Nandor looked at him, face bewildered. “Is that a bad thing?”

Guillermo shrugged and took a sip of soup before saying, “I think it’s kind of cute.”

Nandor the Relentless, conqueror of thousands, immortal warrior, had been called a lot of things in his life and unlife. Cute was not usually one of them. The vampire readjusted himself on the bed, looking at his hands. “Why do you think it’s cute?”

“I don’t know.” He said, taking another sip of soup to buy some time to form his thoughts. “I know you had a lot of kids; it’s sometimes fun to imagine how you would be around them and such. I think you’re kind of a hot dad-type, I guess.”

Nandor leaned on his side. “Well, maybe that’s the type of person I am being into as well.” He didn’t look at Guillermo as he confessed this, instead choosing to draw patterns idly with his fingers.

Guillermo laughed. “Well, I guess that takes me out of the running.”

Nandor’s mouth fell, “Why would you be taken out?” Were the assassins after Guillermo now? Nandor would have to protect him at whatever cost.

The man made sure Nandor was looking him in the eye before he spoke. “Well, I’m gay, so not a lot of opportunities for me to be a dad in the conventional sense.” He could see that Nandor was still kind of lost. “I mean, I guess I could adopt, but no agency in their right mind is going to let me bring a kid here.” He motioned around the room to represent the whole house. “Plus, I could never afford the fees anyway, which takes out surrogacy too, since that is also out of my price range.”

Nandor shrugged. “Well, maybe that is something you can just worry about later, Guillermo. You’re still young, you still have time to sire many children. I probably would have sired so many more if I had not been taken out at such any early age. I was in my prime when I was turned.”

“Maybe we could talk about something else, please,” Guillermo said. 

Nandor nodded and they continued to make idle conversation while Guillermo ate his food. He drained the soup bowl, not a single, solitary drop left.

Nandor grabbed the drink from the nightstand. “Here, it is the blood of oranges mixed with the tears of lemons.”

Guillermo giggled. “Whatever you say, Nandor.”

Once he had devoured the sandwich and half the lemonade, Nandor felt it was time for Guillermo to open his treat.

He handed the box to Guillermo who opened it carefully. Nandor’s eyes did a double take at the sight of the raspberry almond thumbprint cookie. The little shop girl had given his Guillermo a heart shaped cookie. How could she? Was she trying to steal his Guillermo away for her own purpose? She had claimed she didn’t even know him.

Nandor could hear an uptick in Guillermo’s pulse as he took in the sight of the cookie. “Oh, Nandor, this is so nice,” he said, voice cracking just a bit for some odd reason.

He smiled back at the man. “You’re welcome, Guillermo.”

Maybe the cookie wasn’t such a bad choice after all. 

Guillermo gingerly took the cookie from its box and held it in his hands as if it were some sort of human sacrament. “I wish I could break it in half so we could share it.”

Nandor frowned. “Don’t go breaking my heart, Guillermo. I gave it especially to you.”

“Well, I know one way we could share it.” Guillermo’s voice had a somewhat sultry quality to it as the words fell from his luscious lips.

Nandor felt his undead heart perk up with a swell of happy feelings. “And how?”

Guillermo winked in response and took a bite out of the cookie. He continued to take bite after bite, savoring it slowly as he devoured the delightful treat.

Once it was gone, he sat up and leaned into Nandor’s space.

“How do you want to share the cookie with me, Guillermo?” Nandor asked, voice low and eyes hooded in anticipation.

Guillermo leaned in, his lips pressing gently against Nandor’s. Nandor grinned and pulled Guillermo closer to him, embracing him and kissing him back. 

There was a sweet quality to the kiss that Nandor knew was not standard issue for humans. He’d kissed plenty of mortals in his centuries of existence and they all had varying degrees of tastes upon his tongue. Other vampires, being cold to the touch, had a cold taste to them that wasn’t wholly pleasant, but not wholly offensive either. It was just reality. But humans on the other hand were warm, blood thrumming through their delicate veins, enticing the senses even more. 

Nandor could hear Guillermo’s sweet blood rush through his veins, his heart’s pulse quickening as they deepened their kisses. He wasn’t entirely sure if the cookie was responsible for all the sweet sensations he was feeling, or if this was just Guillermo. Either way, he could never let the man go now. He had halted this moment stupidly for so long and it took the thought of his Guillermo dying to bring Nandor to his knees to relent. He could have been feeling this way and kissing this man the whole time.

But that was in the past.

This was now.

He could make up for lost time later.

They pulled apart and looked into each other’s eyes. “I think you should accidentally tackle me more often.” Guillermo said, a dreamy haze overtaking his visage.

“If I didn’t think it would kill you, I would.” Nandor said, running his hand down Guillermo’s face before crushing his lips in another kiss.

Or maybe they could just make up for lost time now.

The vampire couldn’t make the man exert too much energy in the condition he was in, so they kept their activities light. The two spent the remainder of the evening together, snuggled in the cozy covers of the bed engaging in completely innocent kissing and conversations ranging from their favorite animals to who on the documentary crew they thought was the cutest. It was camera two. Nandor would periodically check the back of Guillermo’s head for any signs of further injury, his cold fingers stroking the man’s scalp in soothing circles. He was content to just lie here like this for as long as Guillermo needed him to.

Guillermo had fallen sound asleep half past midnight, much earlier than he normally would, and Nandor didn’t dare leave his side. He was content to cradle the man in his arms in serene silence the whole night through. Once the sun threatened to peak over the horizon, Nandor made the solitary trek to his coffin, taking the stairs one at a time. He could put himself to bed knowing that the things would never be the same-- in the best possible way.


End file.
